Zelhem is a town in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

province of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. It has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Zelhem is located in the municipality of

Bronckhorst Bronckhorst () is a municipality in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The municipality is the result of a merger of the former municipalities Hengelo, Gelderland, Hengelo, Hummelo en Keppel, Steenderen, Vorden and Zelhem, on 1 January 2005. The munici ...

, about 7 km northeast of

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Dutch Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ) is a city and Municipalities in the Netherlands, municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the IJssel, Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the Provinces of the Netherland ...

. Zelhem was a separate municipality until 2005, when it became a part of Bronckhorst. The municipality used to cover an area of 81.89 km².

History

The village is more than 1200 years old. The modern name Zelhem originated from Salehem. This name was given to the village when a chapel was built and a gift-document was presented to the inhabitants. The name Salehem comes from two words 'Sale' which means 'house' and 'heim' which means 'place where people are home'. The founder of this chapel was a passionate preacher called Liudger. He brought religion to the land of the Saksen. Between 1450 and 1500 the church as we know it was built. It was dedicated to St. Lambertus,

bishop of Maastricht The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maastricht (Latin Traiectum ad Mosam) was a Roman Catholic jurisdiction in parts of present Netherlands (including the see Maastricht) and Belgium, which has been nominally revived as a Latin titular bishopric. Histo ...

in the time of Ludger (hence the name 'Lambertikerk').

The myth of Smoks Hanne

The village also has a myth of 'Smoks Hanne'. She lived in Zelhem somewhere in the nineteenth century. Nowadays she's pictured as a good witch flying on a broom. The funny part is that Smoks Hanne only has one clog (on her left foot) and the broom she's flying on is backwards. It is assumed that Smoks Hanne lost her clog during flight. Unfortunately there's not much information about this old lady. But when the village celebrated its 1200th anniversary, the theme was all about her.

People born in Zelhem

* Hedzer Rijpstra (1919-2011), politician *

Jan Remmelink Professor Jan Remmelink (27 April 1922, Zelhem, Gelderland – 15 May 2003, Groningen (city), Groningen) was Attorney General of the High Council of the Netherlands from 1968 to 1989. In 1979 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Art ...

(1922–2003), jurist *

Leo Klein Gebbink Leo Klein Gebbink (born 9 January 1968 in Zelhem, Gelderland) is a former field hockey midfield player from The Netherlands, who represented his native country in two consecutive Summer Olympics (1992 and 1996). At his last appearance in Atlanta ...

(born 1968), hockey player

References

External links

Information about ZelhemOud Zelhem (historical information about Zelhem)Link collection on Zelhem
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2005 Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland Bronckhorst